PHOTO Flashback: Commerce Minister Wilson Tarpeh and LIPO Director General Atty. Cooper as they attended the World Intellectual Property Organization Conference Geneva, Switzerland
MONROVIA- Liberia has been selected by the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) to host its annual administrative and ministerial Council meeting, something described as a major success for the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) government’s efforts to uphold the policies and laws of Intellectual Property and Trade.
ARIPO is member-states driven Regional Intellectual Property organization, which facilitates cooperation among member states to pull together scarce resources for the development, protection and advancement of Intellectual Property in Africa.
The meeting, according to a press statement from the Liberia Intellectual Property Office (LIPO), is the 43rd Administrative and Seventeenth Ministerial Councils sessions respectively. It is expected to be held at the Farmington Hotel in Harbel, Margibi County from 18 to 22 November 2019.
Currently, there are Nineteen (19) participating member states of ARIPO, which include Botswana, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Kingdom of Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
A statement quoting Atty. P. Adelyn Cooper Director-General of LIPO said the selection of Liberia to host this weeklong meeting, which is expected to bring to the shores of Liberia more than hundred delegates from Africa and the World.
The meeting, Atty. Cooper said comes at a time when the country through polices development and strategies is making enormous efforts in promoting positive image and value addition for economic rights, as a measure against Infringement and other IP related offenses or crime.
“Amid the challenges, we are working to improve the IP regime in Liberia, and this meeting is a testament of the hard work we are doing to push Liberia on the map as well as strengthening the fight against IP theft locally and international,” said Atty. Cooper.
For his part, Prof. Wilson K. Tarpeh, Minister of Commerce & Board Chairman of LIPO said: “We are expected as a country, to benefit from improved image of our governance in upholding the rules and laws of Intellectual Property and overall commitment to the principles of the World Trade Organization (WTO). This will also position Liberia through our offices to provide leadership guidance to ARIPO, as Chairman for both the Administrative and Ministerial Councils for the next two years.”
During the meetings, the release added, Council members will deliberate and discuss the administrative aspects of ARIPO, its program of activities for the ensuing calendar year taking into consideration reports from various statutory committees.
The upcoming international meeting in Liberia will be attended by observers from ARIPO cooperative partners including the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle (OAPI), the Japan Patent Office, the State Intellectual Property office (SIPO) of the People’s Republic of China and the United States Patent Office (USPTO) amongst others.
LIPO is a semi-autonomous agency in the Executive branch of Government responsible for the promulgation and development of polices that enhances the protection, commercial exploitation and enforcement of Intellectual Property rights or property, which derives from the mind, within the bailiwick of Liberia.